Page\Park, Flanagan Lawrence, Denizen Works and Ann Nisbet Studio vie for 2023 Doolan Award
Two unique rural homes and two exceptional university buildings have been shortlisted for the highest accolade in Scottish architecture: the Doolan Award.
Denizen Works’ Hundred Acre Wood, Ann Nisbet Studio’s Cuddymoss, Page\Park Architects’ Campus Central, and Flanagan Lawrence’s Laidlaw Music Centre were whittled down from the seven-strong winners list of this year’s Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland Awards.
Three of the four schemes shortlisted for the Doolan Award won RIBA National Awards last month. Being named Scotland’s building of the year would net their designers the award’s £10,000 prize.
The award was founded by architect and entrepreneur Andrew Doolan with the RIAS in 2002 and has been supported by his family since his death two years later.
RSHP senior partner Tracy Meller is chair of the jury panel for the 2023 award. She said it would be a “tough job” to select a winner from the four candidates on the shortlist.
“Whether unlocking a tricky urban challenge or doing justice to a remarkable rural setting, each has a superb relationship with its context,” she said. “Their clients’ briefs could not be more different, and yet each building demonstrates exceptional imagination, skill and flair.
“I know Andrew Doolan wanted the award established in his name to celebrate the very best of Scottish architecture, and this year’s shortlist does exactly that.”
Denizen Works’ entry is a large family home that overlooks Loch Awe and features recycled TV screens in its rendering.
Ann Nisbet Studio’s Cuddymoss, in North Ayrshire, was conceived as a “building within a ruin” and sits back from the original 200-year-old structure, which housed both people and cattle. The new intervention involved few alterations to the ruin and could be removed for a future redevelopment.
Page\Park’s Campus Central project for the University of Stirling is a mix of new-build and extensive reuse of a 1970s steel framed structure, which the award jury said “has the air of an alpine research institute”.
Flanagan Lawrence’s Laidlaw Music Centre, at the University of St Andrews, includes two world-firsts for a chamber hall: a fully mechanized floor beneath it and a reverberation chamber above – allowing the space to be tuned both spatially and acoustically. It also features a balcony for ad-hoc outdoor performances to audiences in the quad below.
The winner of the 2023 Doolan Best Building in Scotland Award will be announced on 30 November.
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